U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's second version of a free software tool that helps school districts evaluate and manage their school facilities for key environmental, safety, and health issues. HealthySEAT is designed to be customized and used by district-level staff to conduct voluntary self-assessments of their school facilities and to track and manage information on environmental conditions school by school. EPA has also included critical elements of all of its regulatory and voluntary programs for schools, as well as web links to more detailed information. Enhancements for Version 2 include user-defined custom checklists, custom notification letters, additional and updated reports and forms, new navigation improvements, e-mail functionality, changes in terminology, and additional documentation.

Reports that legislation mandating high performance construction in Washington's public buildings has added between 1 and 3 percent in reported construction costs. The impact of these standards on energy use is mixed, with some buildings meeting expectations while others do not. However, many show some improvement in energy performance over time. The impact on student performance and worker productivity is not clear. Many projects are newly completed with limited operating experience and incomplete data. 46p.

The indoor environmental factors considered in higher educational building must be determined in order to meet the user's requirement. Disruption of indoor environment may reduce occupants' efficiencies and their learning process and activities. But the question is, how to ensure that the provision of indoor environmental aspects achieves high satisfaction to the building user. Therefore, POE (post occupancy evaluation) is a prominent tool that indicates satisfaction and comfort level needs by the building occupants as lessons learned to identify problems in the indoor environment. The information of the building's condition is gained by reviewing what the occupants' feelings are and how they response to their needs by using and occupying the building. With relation to the title, the main aim of this study is to determine the occupants' satisfaction levels and the probability of learning process, which can be affected due to poor environmental conditions, based on analytical study on concept and process of POE. A survey on occupants' satisfaction of 100 students in University Technology of MARA, Perak, Malaysia, has revealed that there is significance of providing good quality of indoor environmental conditions, that will affect the learning process of the students. It is concluded that POE is effective to be used in evaluating performance of environmental conditions in a building, especially to apply the relative impact of aspects towards the design of future buildings. By introducing POE in evaluating environmental conditions in higher educational buildings, it is hoped that it helps to move the industry towards sustainable, healthy and comfortable learning areas. [Authors' abstract]

Presents energy and water use data, indoor environmental quality results, and occupant feedback for this school, which was built in 2004 as part of the Washington Sustainable Schools Protocol pilot projects. The report provides a comparison between projected performance and actual performance after two full school years of occupancy. It includes explanations of sustainable design strategies employed at WMS; quantitative and qualitative evaluation of as-built results, including operations and maintenance feedback; costs/savings reporting, comparing projected values to actual costs/savings; and occupant feedback, including students, staff, school district, and maintenance staff. 247p.

This publication explores what school principals should know when construction takes place in or near a school while it is in session. It covers pre-construction preparation, including how to work with architects/engineers and other school staff; actions to take during construction, including proper information dissemination and safeguarding students and property; and post-construction activities, including custodial and maintenance staff training and post-occupancy evaluations. 4p.

Provides a detailed discussion of the processes involved in planning a school building, from a discussion on how to organize the local staff to the final evaluation of the building. Individual chapters address planning, educational program development, evaluation of existing facilities, enrollment projection, financial planning, development of the capital improvement program, development of educational specifications, site selection and acquisition, federal regulations, architect selection and employment, project management, commissioning, post-occupancy evaluation, technology integration, and green schools. 332p.

Offers a post-occupancy evaluation of Central Los Angeles High School No. 9. The history behind the creation of this signature architectural work within a collection of prominent recent Los Angeles cultural institutions is reviewed, as are public reactions to the high cost of construction and student reactions to the sometimes impractical and stark design.

Advocates for LEED certification of schools and particular attention to post-occupancy care of the building and site. Using LEED criteria to inform facility decisions and engage students is recommended. Creating high performance school with minimal risk and alternative certifications and codes are also discussed.

Discusses three universities' experience with sustainable design. Despite minor issues, all three institutions are saving energy and are pleased as well with the ability to use the building as a teaching tool.

Summarizes the main post occupancy evaluation (POE) techniques currently available and illustrates which method would be the most appropriate as a performance enhancement tool within higher education facilities. The history of, and barriers to using POE as a performance enhancement tool are analyzed through an extensive literature review. Despite a historic resistance to POE by construction professionals, interest has emerged in recent years, particularly with government clients and public funded projects, with a focus on the outputs of a project as opposed to the inputs. While many methods exist, only a few are specifically suited to evaluate the building performance of educational facilities to maximize student success and productivity.

Examines faculty and student satisfaction with classrooms in an unnamed university facility in the midwest. The two-story, 95,000 square foot building was dedicated for use by the entire campus with no college or department given permanent classroom space. The facilitys classrooms were designed to incorporate state-of-the-art communications technology including television monitors, DVD and video cassette recorders, overhead projectors and slide projectors, video presenters, and hook-ups for computers and CD, tape and other audio equipment. A post-occupancy evaluation (POE) survey of 125 faculty and 5,048 students using the facility indicated that the majority of faculty and students were satisfied with it. However, problems were cited including: difficulty in using equipment, uncomfortable room temperatures and seating, and a sterile environment.

Explores the issue of design intentions versus users' reactions by conducting a post- occupancy evaluation study of Qatar University's outdoor spaces from the users' perspective, after it has been used and occupied for over 20 years. The assessment aimed at understanding the mutual interaction process between the built environment exemplified by the campus outdoor spaces, and the needs of the university community exemplified by students, faculty, and staff. The methodology incorporated walk-through evaluation, direct observation, behavioral mapping, and survey questionnaires. The investigation reveals a number of problems that may hinder the performance of different types of QU campus users.

Analyzes reactions of teachers and students to classroom and cluster prototypes, among other aspects, against a number of spatial requirements and educational objectives. The results of this investigation support the assumption on how the school environment has a direct impact on the way in which teaching and learning takes place. A conclusion envisioning the need for going beyond adopting prescriptive measures to address the quality of the learning environment is conceived by highlighting the need to utilize knowledge generated from research findings into school design process, to pursue active roles in sensitizing users about the value of the school environment in reaching the desired academic performance while increasing teachers productivity.

Describes the purpose of and strategies for conducting post-occupancy evaluations (POE?s) as a method for assessing school building performance. The authors describe research conducted within the newest generation of Sao Paulos schools. The various methods of POE, including expert walkthroughs, physical measurements, observations, behavioral mapping, user interviews, focus groups, and survey questionnaires were applied within a purposefully selected case study school were examined. The findings indicate that the POE carried out at Fernando Gasparian High School revealed limitations in the buildings design, particularly in light of the neighborhood context, thus raising significant concerns about safety and security. Users gave the construction quality of the building, a generally positive evaluation, however, there were some important aspects of the building design judged as deficient. In particular, researchers observed a significant mismatch between the building design and the realities of the surrounding community. This sort of incongruity introduced important challenges to principals, teachers, and staff, as they worked to ensure the safety of students who attend the school.